Act III scene IV, also known as the ‘Closet scene,’ is a key scene in ‘Hamlet’ as it is the first time in the play that Hamlet and Gertrude are alone and engage in more than passing conversation. To establish the importance of this scene and how it reflects the personalities of the characters concerned it is important to study and respond to various interpretations.

This scene is often interpreted in two contrasting ways, one where Hamlet’s behaviour is due to sexual jealousy and one where he is considered to be a caring son. I personally believe the latter to be a more justifiable presentation of Hamlet’s true character. This is because the audience is only too aware of the effect his father’s death has had upon him. Subsequently, his resentment of the relationship between Claudius and Gertrude, could be perceived as a natural reaction, ‘A little month; or e’er those shoes were old with which she followed my poor father’s body.’ Also, Hamlet is mor

Branagh does not interpret Gertrude as Zeffirelli does, as a weak character, who, like Ophelia earlier, is manipulated and used as a pawn by both Claudius and Polonius. Instead, in this version, Gertrude, to the audience, is seen as much more assertive and believes that she is acting justifiably until she is shown the errors of her ways by Hamlet. There is evidence of this in the way Gertrude interacts with Hamlet when he first enters the room. Unlike the Zeffirelli version, Gertrude says the line, ‘Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended,’ with authority, like a mother speaking to a disobedient child. Her strength as a character and as a woman is illustrated by the way in which, she faces Hamlet, and with angrily in her defence asks, ‘Ay me, what act that roars so loud, and thunders in the index?’ In fact, it is only once Hamlet convinces her of Claudius’ guilt that she cannot look at her son. This contrasts dramatically to Gertrude in Zeffirelli’s film, who runs away and covers her ears, as she can not bare her sons ranting. Branagh by the end of the scene, in no way presents Gertrude as a weak, vulnerable woman and when she speaks the lines, ‘What shall I do?’ and ‘I have no life to breathe what thou hast said to me,’ it is out of despair. This is because her world and beliefs, have been brought crashing down around her as she realises that she has married her husband’s murderer and this is unlike the pitiful character Zeffirelli portrays.

The most recent production of Hamlet [directed by Steven Pimlott (RSA, 2001] is set in a modern Denmark and although there is not the obvious evidence of an oedipal love for his mother that Zefferilli presents to the audience, there is underlying sexual tension. For example, in the ‘Closet scene’ Samuel West [as Hamlet] gropes his mother as he did to Ophelia several scenes earlier, although arguably this is more likely to leave the audience feeling that Hamlet has distaste for women in general: ‘Frailty thy name is woman!’ However, in my opinion this interpretation is probably not the best to study when determining the true identities of both Hamlet and Gertrude. This is because as Nicholas de Jonagh (Guardian 2001) said of this version, ‘Hamlet’s emotional outbursts, his despair at the sight of all the sullied sexy flesh and deception around, lack painful conviction.’ In my supposition, a more credible version of Hamlet, suggesting sexual tension but portraying the characters differently, is the Kenneth Branagh (1996) interpretation.

Arguably, Hamlet’s only weakness displayed in this scene is the murder of Polonius, which, in both versions he uncharacteristically commits in a rage and wit

Some topics in this essay:
Act III, Claudius Gertrude, Zeffirelli Hamlet’s, Hamlet Zeffirelli, Jaqueline Rose, Kenneth Branagh, Hamlet Gertrude, Wood York, Gertrude Zeffirelli’s, Unlike Zeffirelli, mother son, enters scene, sexual jealousy, thou hast, strength character, sexual tension, ‘closet scene’, lynn jeff wood, violence towards, feelings mother, york notes, wood york notes, branagh interprets hamlet, jeff wood york, york notes 1998,